


The Birds and the Bees

by ChaneenW



Category: The X-Files, The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-27 00:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8379604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaneenW/pseuds/ChaneenW
Summary: Something went wrong for Mulder and Scully in that hallway. Terribly wrong. It's not how it should have happened, and their lives hang in the balance until they can figure out how to fix it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks, as always, to my lovely beta, CaroBertaud. :)

Scully’s lungs were on fire, but she admitted that it was probably a good thing, as they were the only parts of her she could still feel. She could sense Mulder pulling her up off of the snow, silently compelling her to keep going. She didn’t want to move, though; it was easier just to stay in one place. To rest.

He paused for a few moments, and she thought maybe they were out of danger, but then he began propelling her forward again with a renewed sense of urgency, almost dragging her. Certainly her muscles weren’t doing the job. Eventually, she felt the ground give way beneath her. There was the sensation of being lifted up and then of falling.

Her already weakened body slammed into the icy ground, hard. Hopefully they were safe because she wasn’t sure if she could move again. Closing her eyes, she started to drift, until she dimly heard Mulder’s voice.

“Scully! You’ve got to see this! Scully!”

She cracked her eyes open a tiny bit, just to appease him. “I saw it,” she murmured, just so he’d leave her alone. “I saw.” She felt him collapse beside her and they both lay for a few moments, silent.

They had to figure out how to get out of there, she knew. It was too cold, and they would be better off if they started moving. Right as she was about to mention that, she looked over and saw that Mulder had his eyes closed, his cheek pressed to the freezing snow. His face was ashen; his body, motionless. She noted with dismay that he was certainly not dressed for Antarctica. Not while she was wearing his coat.

Grunting a bit at the exertion, she managed to turn him over and pull him into her lap, and then she wrapped her arms around him as best she could. But she knew it was futile. In these temperatures they would freeze to death within moments. It was most likely impossible to get someplace safe in time, but maybe Mulder knew if there was shelter nearby.

“Mulder,” she whispered, her voice raspy and cracking. No response. “Mulder,” she tried again, this time with more urgency.

A flock of birds flew overhead at that moment, and she looked up. They were huge, white birds. She knew how to identify the albatross from her father; he’d taught her all of the birds of the ocean from the time she was little. She’d never seen one in person, though, and her breath caught at the beauty of the creatures.

As soon as the last one passed overhead, a jolt of realization swept through her. She leaned down to let Mulder know that she remembered, and to see if he did too, but she couldn’t get him to wake up. She checked his pulse and then bit her lip. There was no point in crying out here in the middle of nowhere. Closing her own eyes, she succumbed to the wintry wilderness herself, and her last thought was the memory of Mulder’s lips just millimeters from her own.

 

*****  
  
  
“You don’t need me, Mulder. You never have. I’ve just held you back.” Scully’s shoulders sagged a little as she turned away from him. “I’ve gotta go.”

Mulder stared after her in momentary disbelief. Was it possible that she had no idea what she meant to him? Did she honestly believe he viewed her as nothing more than an FBI partner, someone who was in any way replaceable? Even if she wanted to quit the Bureau, he couldn’t allow her to walk out of his life like this. It was now or never. He squared his shoulders and followed her out into the hallway of his apartment building.

“You want to tell yourself that so you can quit with a clear conscience, you can. But you’re wrong,” he called after her, walking quickly to catch up.

She turned to face him and asked, “Why did they assign me to you in the first place, Mulder? To debunk your work, to rein you in, to shut you down.”

Mulder answered quickly, “But you saved me. As difficult and as frustrating as it’s been sometimes, your goddamned strict rationalism and science have saved me a thousand times over.” He leaned in closer and spoke to her earnestly. “You kept me honest. You made me a whole person. I owe you everything, Scully. And you owe me nothing.” He paused and said quietly “I don’t know if I want to do this alone. I don’t even know if I can. And if I quit now, they win.”

They were silent for a few seconds, and then she stepped forward into his arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He wrapped his arms around her and they silently stood like that for a few moments. Everything he’d ever wanted was crying into his chest right now.

He’d been prepared to hold her all night like that, if that was what it took, but she pulled back and kissed him on the forehead and then rested her own against his. It felt like this was goodbye. Was she really able to walk out of his life like this? Mulder slowly tipped her face back so he was able to look into her eyes. She held his gaze even as her lip quivered, even as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

She smiled slightly at him and that’s when he knew he was going to do this. He bent down towards her, and then as if by unspoken agreement, she stretched towards him, their lips searching for each other. They were almost there and—

“Wait,” Scully said and frowned in confusion.

Mulder drew back sharply. He’d read the situation completely wrong, he realized. She didn’t want him like that; she _had_ been just telling him goodbye. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, miserable.

“No, it’s…hold on…there’s something…” She looked around helplessly. “I don’t know.”

“What’s wrong?” He couldn’t understand why she was acting like she’d suddenly misplaced something, especially since they were supposed to be in the middle of something else.

“Ow, Jesus!” Scully sucked in her breath and grabbed the back of her neck.

“What happened? What’s going on?” The whole situation was sliding out of his control.

“Something stung me.”

Well, that he could handle. Mulder reached his hand into her collar and grabbed the still wriggling bee by his thumb and finger. “Must have gotten in your shirt,” he noted.

She looked closely at the bee. “Mulder, there’s something…I don’t know why but I feel like I knew…”

“What?”

But then her face went pale. “Mulder, something’s wrong.” And at those words, he forgot everything else but taking care of her.  
  


*****  
  
  
“Stay awake, Mulder,” Scully murmured in his ear as she shifted his weight into a more comfortable position for her legs.

“I’m awake,” he responded in a shallow voice. “I’m fine.”

She clutched him tighter and tried to clear her throat so she could talk more comfortably. “Good. It’s important that you keep talking, at least for a few more minutes.”

“Why?”

That was a question she couldn’t answer; she just knew they had to wait. “Trust me,” she assured him, stroking his cheek. He responded to her touch by nuzzling into her hand.

“There, Mulder!” She looked up at the sky, and he followed her gaze. Dozens of white birds with impossible wingspans soared over them.

“Wow,” he said, impressed. Then, after a moment as the last one faded into the horizon, he turned his head so he could look into her face. “Scully?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “What’s going on?”

“Do you remember?”

“Everything. But why?”

“They were albatrosses,” Mulder said thoughtfully.

“Yes, I know. I didn’t know _you_ knew your southern oceanic birds, though.”

He attempted to grin but his face was so frozen that it looked as though he grimaced. “I was Oxford educated,” he reminded her. “Every student in England knows about Samuel Coleridge and his poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.’”

“Is that how you plan to stay awake? By quoting a dead poet?”

“No, of course not. I mean, I could,” he admitted, “but I just meant that I know something about the folklore of the albatross that might be interesting. They’re supposedly associated with bad luck,” he said, lifting his head and looking back at her pointedly. “Curses.”

She shivered involuntarily and not only from the cold. “Oh, so you’re saying we’re cursed?” She tried for a joking tone but didn’t quite make it. “What kind of a curse?”

He shrugged. “It’s just a poem, obviously, but the albatross is supposed to symbolize an ongoing obstacle that’s impossible to get past.”

“A problem that repeats itself indefinitely,” she replied quietly.

“A time loop,” he confirmed, nodding stiffly.

“But that’s—“

“Impossible?” Mulder grimaced again. “How many times have you told me that, even without the benefit of a time loop?”

“We’ve been here before,” she admitted.

“Yes, I just don’t know how many times before. Who knows? I could have already come down here hundreds of times to haul your ass off that ship.” He yawned. “Maybe that’s why I’m so tired.”

Scully was instantly on alert. “You’re tired because of the cold, Mulder. You could be going into shock. We need to try to move. Can’t we try to make it somewhere?” She heard the desperation in her voice and thought about letting him use the coat so he could warm up for a while, but she knew he wouldn’t agree to that.

“There’s nowhere to go, Scully,” he said apologetically. “The Sno-Cat is out of gas, and anyway it’s miles away. Even if we could somehow make it there, we’d just be out of the wind, not the cold. It would just prolong the inevitable.”

“I can’t—we have to do something,” she said stubbornly. “Scoot up here closer to me.” She attempted to lift him more fully into her lap. “We should conserve body heat.”

He didn’t answer, and she saw that his eyes were closed. “Mulder…” her heart seized with familiar grief.

But then he mumbled, his lips thickened by cold, “Why can’t it ever rain—or snow—sleeping bags when we need them?”

She laughed through the tears that crystallized on her face. There was no way out of here, she realized. There was no way off of this continent for them, and maybe there was no way out of the time loop that could save them both, either.

 

*****  
  
  
After Mulder finished talking he found his arms wrapped around Scully, their bodies pressed together. He breathed in the scent of her strawberry shampoo and thought he could stay like this all night.

But even as that thought ran across his mind, another one chased it immediately: the thought that he’d been here before, that he’d already had these exact thoughts. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the moment. Scully was telling him goodbye; they were officially ending their partnership after five years.

She pulled back and kissed him on the forehead and then placed her own forehead where her lips had touched just moments before. Another wave of déjà vu swept over him. He pulled back from her and studied her eyes to determine whether it seemed like she was feeling the same way, but he couldn’t tell.

Instead, she moved toward him slowly and closed her eyes. Her lips parted and he forgot everything else as he moved to finally kiss Scully. He felt his lips just barely brush against hers and then—

“Ow! Shit!” Scully hissed.

“I’m sorry,” replied Mulder automatically. He wasn’t sure what had happened, though.

“No, something stung me.”

“Must be one of the bees from earlier,” said Mulder before he reached into the back of her shirt to produce it. He paused as he looked down at the bee wriggling between his fingers. Had he actually _known_ what he’d find or was it just obvious that if she’d gotten stung it would have been from the swarms they’d faced in Texas? But he couldn’t dwell on that for very long because she’d suddenly gone very pale.

“Mulder, something’s wrong.”

She ran through a litany of symptoms as she collapsed into his arms. He held her in his arms and looked down at her helplessly. She met his gaze and then her eyes widened.

“Mulder,” she said with a sense of urgency. “Listen to me. Get away, right now.”

“What?”

“I can’t explain it right now,” she answered, and it was true that she was fighting to stay conscious. “Don’t come after me,” she warned in a much weaker voice. “Don’t try to save me.”

And that alarmed him not only because of the meaning of her words but also because it had been the only thing she’d said to him that hadn’t seemed like something he’d already heard.

 

*****  


  
“You tried to save me anyway,” she sighed to him as soon as the last of the birds had again flown away.

Mulder nodded. “Yes, well, in my defense, I didn’t know what you were talking about. And…why would you have said that?”

“Maybe you’re not supposed to come rescue me, Mulder. That could be what screws everything up.”

“Or maybe you’re not supposed to get stung by that bee in the first place,” he countered. “Besides,” he said, his voice softening. “I wouldn’t leave you down here alone to go through this by yourself, Scully. I would follow you anywhere.” And that was absolutely true, he suddenly realized. If they ever got out of this time loop, he knew that whether she ended up in some field office or quit to do something completely different, he’d be there right beside her.

She cracked a smile and squeezed his achingly cold hand. “I know,” she replied. “But if it’s a way to break the loop, maybe it’s for the best.”

“I don’t accept that,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re in this together,” he insisted, turning to look at her face.

“We’re in this together,” she repeated, squeezing her arms more tightly around him.

“We just need to find a way to remind ourselves,” he said, starting to slur a little as his face froze. “Some small thing that we do or say could change the whole sequence of events and maybe knock ourselves out of the loop before it gets this far.”

“That sounds a bit like you’re talking about Chaos Theory,” said Scully in a thoughtful tone. “Like if a butterfly flaps its wings in the US, that small motion could cause a hurricane in China.”

“Right, exactly. We need to find some sort of trigger that can do that for us. Something that will either help us remember sooner or set in motion a new chain of events to break the loop. You proved you’re able to remember, right? That’s why you warned me.”

“But it’s never early enough,” she sighed. “And you don’t remember anything at all when we’re in the hallway.”

“No, sorry about that. It’s frustrating. I did have a feeling of déjà vu but not anything that could have been used as a trigger.”

“The birds,” said Scully abruptly. “They trigger us to remember everything while we’re here, so why don’t we try to use them there as well?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there aren’t any albatrosses in my apartment building.”

“I think we just need to remember birds, Mulder. Keep thinking of birds, and maybe those thoughts will somehow carry over to your apartment next time.”

“Albatrosses or just birds in general?” he asked in a mumble. He was getting sleepy again.

He felt her grab his face in her hands. “Just keep thinking, Mulder. Remember this,” she told him gently. And he could feel her caress even as he sank into sleep, and as he slipped away she was still holding him.

 

*****  
  
  
Scully turned and fled from Mulder’s living room before he could see how upset she was. She just needed to leave so she could cry in private.

He followed her, though, making it impossible for her to gracefully leave without talking to him again. “You want to tell yourself that so you can quit with a clear conscience, you can. But you’re wrong,” he told her, barreling down the hall.

Truthfully, she’d been a bit annoyed at him for a while. He seemingly refused to see her as anything more than his loyal partner even though she’d given him hundreds of hints over the years. And she would have accepted it if she thought he wasn’t interested. But she knew he was; he was just too damned involved in his work to give her any sort of priority. The only time that he seemed to look at her as anything more than a friend was when one or both of them were on the verge of death, and then once they got over the crisis, they went right back to normal. But normal wasn’t enough anymore. Something had to change.

“Why did they assign me to you in the first place, Mulder?” she asked wearily. “To debunk your work, to rein you in, to shut you down.” Sure, over time they’d learned to trust each other and they’d even become friends. But being friends wasn’t cutting it anymore. And he didn’t seem to get it. But then she looked more closely at his tortured face. Or did he?

“You saved me,” he said hollowly. “As difficult and as frustrating as it’s been sometimes, your goddamned strict rationalism and science have saved me a thousand times over. You kept me honest. You made me a whole person. I owe you everything, Scully. And you owe me nothing. I don’t know if I want to do this alone. I don’t even know if I can. And if I quit now, they win.”

Hope surged through her. They weren’t exactly the words of her dreams, but they were enough for now. She fell against his chest in relief and let the tears that she hadn’t wanted him to see just moments ago flow freely against his shirt. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and he embraced her as well.

She longed to reach up and kiss his mouth, but she had no idea how he’d react. She smiled slightly at the thought. So instead, she pulled his head down to her and kissed his forehead. It was just intimate enough give him a hint as to what she wanted, but it could also be interpreted as a friendly goodbye. If their history was any indication, though, she thought wryly as she leaned her forehead against his, she already knew how he’d take it.

To her surprise, he broke away from her and put his hands on the back of her head, looking deeply into her eyes. She looked back at him and saw pain, longing, and yes, desire in his eyes. Making a decision, she parted her lips slightly and like a mirror image, so did he. Only he’d opened his mouth to start talking.

“If things had been different, Scully…if just one thing had been different then it might not have come to this,” he said sorrowfully. “If we had chosen something else, one a small thing, like—“

“Like when a bird flaps its wings and causes a hurricane in China,” replied Scully in a resigned tone.

“Yes, although it’s actually a butterfly, not a bird,” he corrected her.

“Okay, technically, but a bird could also—” She broke off and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I felt something,” she muttered. “On the back of my neck. Like a tingling feeling.”

Mulder looked worried. “Do you think it’s the chip? Has it ever done that before?”

“No, it’s more like…”

Mulder and Scully looked at each other in horror. “The bee!” they exclaimed in unison as she grabbed the back of her neck.

At that moment, she felt it sting her and knew they were too late again. “It’s over, Mulder,” she said sadly.

“What’s over, Scully?” he asked, panicking.

She realized that although he’d been able to predict the bee, he’d remembered nothing else.

“Hang on, Scully,” he said as he caught her deftly before she fell.

His face swam in her line of sight as she struggled to maintain consciousness. Just before she blacked out, she whispered to him, “We’ll get this right. I promise.”

 

*****  
  
  
Scully pulled Mulder closer to herself, wrapping her arms around him in a bear hug. He leaned back against her and she ran her hands through his hair as she waited.

“Here come the birds,” she said. Mulder looked up at the sky and then back down at her curiously. And then a few seconds later, hundreds of birds were everywhere, soaring with the benefit of their large wings.

“Albatross,” he said, pointing weakly at the sky as the last of them left their sight.

Scully sighed. “Thanks for catching up to me, Mulder. I just love how this curse, or whatever it is, lets me figure this out when I can’t do anything about it while leaving you in the dark.”

He shivered and nestled deeper into her embrace. “I’d say the curse is how we’re stuck in Antarctica for this damn time loop,” he grumbled. “Why not on a nice tropical island? Hell, I’d even take a desert island at this point. This shit is for the birds. Literally.”

“Yes, and obviously talking about the birds in the hallway didn’t do anything,” she responded.

“It could have,” he said. “We could try something else. We’re starting to get better each time, aren’t we?”

“I can’t believe you started _talking,_ ” complained Scully.

“What do you mean? My subconscious must have remembered something because I started talking about a topic that led you to mention the birds. Which, as I recall, was the whole point of this exercise,” he noted.

“I know, it’s just that…well, that moment was supposed to be…”

Mulder gave a casual shrug. “It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. After all, we never make it to the kiss.” He watched her as he said the word “kiss” and saw that she jumped slightly.

“Maybe that part isn’t even supposed to happen at all,” she grumbled in irritation.

They were silent for a moment, not looking at each other. Then Mulder said in what he hoped was an offhand manner, “You know, time loops have also been known to be caused by unfinished business.”

“Is that what you think is going on here? Not a curse or even bad luck but unfinished business?” She said the last two words distastefully.

“Not necessarily. It might not even be related. But we do have some unfinished business, wouldn’t you agree?” He attempted to raise his frozen eyebrows at her.

“You want to finish it _here_?” Scully gestured around at the blindingly white landscape that sprawled in every direction.

“No, I didn’t mean that.” He attempted to smirk. “I can barely feel my lips anymore, for one. No, I thought we could talk about it here, though. Since we can’t really talk about it at my apartment.”

“Well, talk fast, then,” she sighed. “Judging by your color and movements, you’ve got about three minutes left before you lose consciousness.”

“Thanks for the ever so helpful countdown, Scully.” He said dryly. He broke out of her grasp and shifted clumsily around so that he was facing her.

“What are you doing? If you do that, you’re going to lose more body heat,” she warned.

“I wanted to be able to see you,” he said softly. He took her hand in his and coughed slightly. “I meant what I said in the hallway, although maybe I didn’t say it correctly.” He scooted closer to her. “It’s not worth it without you; none of this is worth it without you by my side. It’s why I came down here to get you, and why I’m not letting you go if we ever get out of this. This isn’t about a job, Scully, and it isn’t about searching for the truth or even saving the world. Whatever else, we’re in this together, remember?” He reached his hand up to her face with the last of his strength. “You’re everything to me.”

“Mulder,” she sighed and drew him closer to her. They looked into each other’s eyes and he saw the heartbreak on her face as he knew what he must have looked like. This part never got easier for her, he realized. This was why she wanted him facing away from her; it was the only way she was able to let him go.

He leaned his weight heavily against her and closed his eyes, feeling her arms wrap around his head, her fingers sweep over his temples. And as he felt himself slide down into oblivion, the last thing he was aware of was a whisper of breath in his hair: “I love you.”

 

*****  
  
  
“I don’t know if I want to do this alone. I don’t even know if I can. And if I quit now, they win.” He stopped talking and she looked up into his eyes. His face was earnest in the dimly lit hallway, and she saw something in his eyes, something she’d never noticed before.

_You’re everything to me_.

Scully heard his voice in her head as clearly as if he’d spoken it out loud. Could she read minds now? Obviously not, since that was impossible. But then again, she’d just been pulled out of a spaceship and now she was stuck in a time loop, so—

Oh shit.

“Mulder,” she whispered urgently. She had no idea what to say to make him remember. They had two minutes left, maybe one.

“Scully,” he replied huskily and went to pull her into a hug, but she stopped him.

“Do you remember the bees? From Texas?” she asked rapidly. “There’s one on my neck right now, and I can’t reach it without your help.”

He knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. “What?”

“A bee. On my neck.” She lifted her hair and turned her back to him.

He blinked a couple times and peered down at her neck. “Are you sure? I don’t…oh wait, I do see it.” His fingers moved quickly over her skin. “There,” he announced, turning her around and showing her the bee between his fingers. “I can’t believe this little guy made it this far without stinging you.”

She looked up into Mulder’s face anxiously but didn’t see any recognition there of what they’d been through. Was this enough? Would it break the time loop? She gazed into his eyes, silently willing him to remember anything at all, but he looked back at her passively. Well, even if they hadn’t broken the loop, they’d certainly broken the moment. Sighing heavily, she started to walk down the hall towards his apartment.

“Where are you going?” he called.

“We need to get this bee into a jar or something so I can take it to the labs for analysis,” she answered crisply, all business. “Be careful with that thing; it’s dangerous. If I can prove that it has a virus, then maybe…” she trailed off as she walked through the door.

Mulder followed and watched her open and shut kitchen cupboards, banging them in frustration.

“A virus?” he asked. Before she could attempt to explain, he said, “Uh, Scully, is something going on?”

She didn’t answer. Maybe it would have been better to have just stayed in the time loop, she thought forlornly. At least then they would have almost kissed so he would have had a better idea of how she felt about him. It didn’t look like he remembered anything from Antarctica and maybe he never would. This meant that at the rate they were going, it would probably be five more years before they had another chance at this.

Mulder sighed and walked over to a closet and plucked an ancient-looking Tupperware bowl and lid from its depths, popped the bee inside, then put it on the table.

“Thanks,” she said, picking it up. “I’ll head right over to the Quantico and get it analyzed. When we get the results, we’ll know what exactly we’re dealing with.” She turned to go, but he caught her by the hand.

“In a moment,” he murmured and squeezed her hand thoughtfully. “First we have some unfinished business to attend to.” He took the bowl from her and set it down on the counter.

Scully raised an eyebrow at him, and he tugged gently on the hand he was holding so she stepped into his embrace. This time, she turned her head towards his and let out a deep breath.

“We’re in this together,” he spoke softly into her hair.

She pulled back to look into his eyes, intending to figure out whether he was finally remembering, but she forgot all about that once she saw the love and adoration for her in his eyes as he gazed back at her, the same look he’d given her in his last moments in Antarctica.

He placed his hands on the sides of her face and gently caressed her cheeks before bending slowly down to her. She tipped her head up to his in response and felt his lips brush against hers tentatively. It was the softest, sweetest kiss she’d ever felt, but she wanted more.

Placing her hand on the back of his neck, she urged him forward, parting her mouth and thrusting her tongue into his mouth. Mulder eagerly responded, and the kiss deepened as he pulled her closer to him, crushing her against his chest. His tongue danced in her mouth and her fingers tangled in his hair as they moaned together. She could have done this all night, but reluctantly, she came up for air.

They broke apart, smiling at each other as they caught their breath. “I love you, too,” he said softly to her.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She’d barely said it out loud, and he’d been losing consciousness. Looking at him carefully for a clue, his face betrayed nothing. “What?” she whispered.

He grinned at her and brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss it. “You heard me. Now go take care of that bee.”  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Scully walked over to where Mulder sat on a park bench on the Mall, reading a newspaper. “There’s an interesting work of fiction on page 24,” he noted. “Mysteriously, our names have been omitted. They’re burying this thing, Scully. They’re just going to dig a new hole and cover it up.”

“I told OPR everything I know about the virus and how it’s spread by the bees from pollen in transgenic crops.” She sighed. “I couldn’t very well tell them about my personal experience with it, though, which might have helped. And it also means that as far as anyone else is concerned, we never technically saw that ship either,” she said regretfully.

“What ship?” Mulder asked, raising his eyebrows.

“The ship in Antarctica. You know, the one you told me to look up at?” Scully answered impatiently.

He frowned. “Antarctica? What would we be doing there?”

She whirled toward him with huge eyes. “Mulder, you don’t remember any of it? The albatrosses, the time loop, nothing?”

Shaking his head slowly, he said, “No, but it sounds like an interesting story, Scully.”

“Oh my god,” she murmured and stared at him helplessly. Then she noticed the edges of his mouth start to creep up. “Mulder…” she said warningly.

“I had you big time,” he said, laughing.

“That’s not funny at all,” she said sternly, but her eyes were sparkling.

He draped his arm across her shoulders and drew her to his side. “It just depends on your perspective,” he teased. Then he turned serious. “Speaking of having a different perspective…” He looked at her anxiously. “I wouldn’t blame you if, after all of this, you still want to quit.”

She took a deep breath. “I was serious about wanting to, you know that. But that’s because I thought the cause meant more to you than anything else in the world. I thought it was the only thing you could see.”

“And you don’t think that anymore?”

“You made it clear that there’s at least one more thing that’s at least as important,” she said blushing. “Why did you tell me 'I love you _too_ ’?"

“While we were in the kitchen, I heard your voice in my head as clearly as if you had spoken. And then all of a sudden I remembered you _had_ said those words to me.”

“I barely whispered it, and you were on the edge of unconsciousness,” she murmured. “I can’t believe you would have heard what I’d said.”

“It was the most important thing anyone’s ever said to me. Of course I heard it.”

Scully smiled and bit her lip. “I never would have thought that would be the trigger. How did we hear each other’s thoughts?”

He spread his arms out to his sides. “Why were in a time loop? We’ll probably never get answers to any of these questions. Maybe the universe decided we got it wrong and made us fix it.”

“I’m pretty sure we’re not that important to the universe,” she said with a grin. “But maybe I’ll thank it anyway.”

“You know we could still see each other even if we didn’t work together,” he said to her. “You should go be a doctor and forget about all of this danger.” He looked at her anxiously. “I’m not going to watch you die, Scully, because of some hollow personal cause of mine.”

“Mulder,” she said, searching his eyes, “I watched you die too many times to count, and that was absolutely soul-crushing. But it wouldn’t be the hardest thing I’d ever have to do. That would be giving up without finding the answers. This is my fight too,” she said firmly. “We’re in this together.”

He nodded slowly and laced her fingers through his, and they walked away hand in hand toward whatever the future held for them.


End file.
